Gosnell was convicted Monday in Philadelphia of three counts of murder for killing babies who had been born alive during botched abortions. He was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without parole.

"What led to these convictions of murder of this man is the fact that people have been pushed back into these holes to do something that's legal," Reid said.

Reid responded to reporters' questions about the efforts of Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to outlaw abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy in the District of Columbia, Politico reports. Similar efforts have gained ground in conservative states.

Reid said he opposes that and other laws to make access to abortion more restrictive.

Reid seemed to indicate that efforts to limit access to abortion were to blame for Gosnell's actions.

"To keep pushing these clinics back into situations where we wind up like this is wrong," Reid said. "I think that no matter how you stand on the issue of abortion, people who make that decision should do it and not have to be worried about infections and some butcher like this doing the bad things that they did. It should be in a place that is clean and sterile and have people who know what they’re doing and care about what they do."